Firefighter killed in 3-car crash in Chester County

The American flag in front of Chester County Rescue Squad headquarters was lowered to half-staff Friday. It was the grievous task of rescue squad members and firefighters to lower it three days ahead of Memorial Day in memory of one of their own.

Adam Ryan Swygart, a Blackstock resident and a volunteer with three fire departments in the Chester County, was killed in a three-car crash on S.C. 97 Thursday. Troopers say a northbound Dodge truck began drifting into the oncoming lanes “for unknown reasons,” sideswiping a van and hitting Swygart’s Toyota pickup head-on.

Swygart, 22, died at the scene. The driver of the van was transported to a local hospital, and the driver of the Dodge truck was not injured.

No charges have been filed, and the crash remains under investigation.

Swygart – who was known by most people as “Swag” – volunteered with the Chester Fire Department, South Chester Fire Department and Blackstock-Woodard Volunteer Fire Department. Though he wasn’t on the roster, he helped out frequently with the rescue squad.

Gene Hudson, South Chester fire and rescue squad chief, said it’s not unusual for firefighters in the area to volunteer with multiple agencies. Swygart, he said, poured equal amounts of energy and dedication into each agency.

“He was always energetic and ready to do whatever you asked him to do,” Hudson said. “He didn’t just sit there and get the bare minimum of training; he got more than what was required. He was doing three departments plus going to school and he still had a part-time job.”

Swygart won Blackstock-Woodard’s firefighter of the year award in 2015, according to Chief Lee Brantley. He had recently graduated from the University of South Carolina-Lancaster and wanted to be an arson investigator.

“He had a good life ahead of him. That’s what he was after,” Brantley said. “... He had more friends than you could imagine. He loved to help somebody and would do anything for you.”

Having known Swygart since he was young, Brantley said he was a regular at their home and loved college football, hunting and fishing.

“I’ve got a son and a daughter, and they grew up with him,” Brantley said. “I treat him just about like I treat them, because he’s always coming around or just walks in and talks.”

Bailey Beasley grew up playing sports with Swygart and said the two remained friends while with the fire service. He recalled an afternoon they spent fishing at Brantley’s that was cut short when they received a call about a wreck on U.S. 321.

“We got in the truck,” Beasley said, “and before I even get it cranked up, he’d turned the lights and siren on and was ready to roll – the biggest smile you’ve ever seen.”

Brandon Kinard is a cousin and neighbor of Swygart’s. In addition to volunteering on the fire service together, Kinard races frequently at Cherokee Speedway in Cherokee County and said Swygart was a regular on his pit crew.

“Even when the car didn’t do right, he always made it happy in some kind of way,” Kinard said. “Him going off on the tow truck driver at Gaffney is probably one of the best moments. They tried to pull my car off the track. (The tow truck driver) had it jacked up and was trying to tear it up. Swag just went off on him, told him he was doing it all wrong.”

Taylor Hudson knew Swygart since preschool, and they volunteered for the same local agencies.

“He was always the life of the party,” she said. “He would go the race track with us almost every weekend. We’d be at the river, the pool, the fire department or just hanging out at the house doing nothing.”

They had made plans for the holiday weekend, Hudson said, while eating dinner after a department training session on Tuesday.

“He was supposed to be buying a boat, and he was big on going to the river,” she said. “Since it was Memorial Day, he was really looking forward to that.”

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. Brantley said he hopes some type of firefighter honor is included.

“He’s hard to beat,” he said Swygart. “It’s gonna be very bad here for a while. Everybody’s kind of devastated.”

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 6:57 AM with the headline "Firefighter killed in 3-car crash in Chester County."